Perhaps Joe the Plumber was trying to get Meghan McCain to leave the Republican party way back in November. It looks like she's not going anywhere, but Joe the Plumber rocked the political world on Thursday by announcing his departure.
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GOP disaster: First Specter and now Joe the Plumber?
By Jimmy Orr | 05.07.09
Specter. Who cares?
Small potato (e) s. This is much larger than that.
Think if Bob Dole left the Republican party after losing his presidential bid in 1996. Or if John Kerry jumped ship and abandoned the Democrats in 2004.
That’s the magnitude of today’s announcement. A member of the actual Republican 2008 presidential ticket is giving up. Quitting. Leaving. Skipping town.
Historic
No, not John McCain or Sarah Palin. You’ll recall that last year marked the first time in history that a third person was added to a presidential ticket.
He joined the team late to the game but quickly served in many capacities. Perhaps most notably was when he auditioned for Secretary of State weeks before election day.
Sure, his performance led a commentator on the conservative FOX News network to visibly shudder and say aloud that he was “frightened” with his guest’s remarks.
But that’s the type of machisimo and gusto that made Joe the Plumber, well … uh, Joe the Plumber.
Famous
Plumber, perhaps the most well-known quasi-plumber turned author turned war correspondent turned economic advisor turned political reporter turned public speaker, announced today that he — like Specter — was throwing in the towel.
Who got this exclusive? Credit TIME magazine. And there’s worry that traditional journalism is dead?
Michael Grunwald reports that Plumber (we know he has another last name but Plumber is easier to spell) is “so outraged by GOP overspending, he’s quitting the party — and he’s the bull’s-eye of its target audience.”
“But he also said he wouldn’t support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid — which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits,” Grunwald adds.
You can see why the GOP enlisted him to be an economic advisor a couple months ago.
Famous quotes
Grunwald’s a good reporter. But not that good. He didn’t get any quotes from Plumber. And Plumber’s full of ‘em.
Like when discussing the importance of the press, he opined, “I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting.”
Or on the discussion of the freedom of speech, he said he longed for the good old days. “Back in the day, really, when people would talk about our military in a poor way, somebody would shoot ‘em. And there’d be nothing said about that,” he said.
And we’re not even going to start on what he said a couple days ago…
Survive
Can the Republican party survive? This is a tough one. Perhaps the biggest challenge yet.
If the old saying is true that it’s always darkest before the dawn, then it must be midnight (or whenever it’s really dark).
Our advice? Embrace Gloria Gaynor.
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Comments
2. bbbrown | 05.08.09
If this story is indeed true, then “joe the Plumber” is not a true Republican. True Republicans do not compromise their principles because some of the memebers of their party have been acting irresponsible or “unrepublican.” He was always an Independant, like many people of his age group, who do not know what true Republican/Conservative values are.
The reason that the Republicans in congress spent so much money during the Bush years was that they knew how important their votes were on key bills that enabled the President to protect our country and they held the President hostage to their demands. Bush didn’t vetoe a bill until his 6th year in office. Shame on these congressmen for playing hardball with the President and our country during a time when we needed nothing but their full support.
3. Art | 05.08.09
Let’s not forget Dr. Frankenstein, A.K.A. John McCain, who created the Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin monsters.
4. al walker | 05.08.09
Wow even the silly monitor is grasping at straws to help this moron of a president…
After a common everyday citizen upstaged this empty suit demoncrat president the silly drive by coward media tries to make him a GOP leader now.
Why are the dems so scared of the GOP they are trying to convince themselves we are quitting? No such luck you gutless left wing whacko’s, we are going to take back the congress this next election just like we did with clinton.
5. Phil | 05.08.09
Thanks, Art, for the important reminder of John McCain’s culpability in creating these monsters, which is EXACTLY what they are. Prior to McCain’s pick of Palin, I was actually considering voting for him (I’m an independent). Now, he’s linked forever with that Ghoulish Hillbilly from Wasilla and the Creepy Wurzelbacher.
6. d trembley | 05.08.09
a true American would dump his party if that party were hurting America.
Joe learned that in an economic downturn republicans aren’t the friends of America, just a friend to fellow republicans. 8 years of THAT and Joe finally gets it.
9. Maggi | 05.08.09
Gee! How funny! I just changed my registration three days ago after having been a registered Republican for 40-some years! I finally woke up and realized that there isn’t that much difference between the two parties anymore: they both like to spend money to garner votes and they all have questionable ethics!
10. ellymo | 05.08.09
Socially Moderate Republicans are going to leave the party in droves. Those of use who believe in true fiscal conservatism have been betrayed by our Republican Party. The face of today’s Republican Party is filled with religious, far-right, extremist hatred, and that’s not how most real Republicans feel. The Republican Party mission of “maximum freedom through minimum government” has been destroyed by right-wing, hate-mongering, wackos. I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my 50+ years, but the Republican Party has lost me and many like me who are truly ashamed of, and embarrassed by Rush Limbaugh, Joe the Plumber, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Rupert Murdock, and others who think they speak for us.
12. Clive | 05.09.09
I think that there is an important point in all of this, namely that the Republican party is in really serious trouble: this is just symbolic. I mostly vote Democrat, I strongly support Obama but I also want to see a viable opposition, not the confused mess that is currently the GOP. Look across the pond to where the British Conservative Party has been out of power for over a decade at the national level. US a one party nation? Not good…
13. Homunculis | 05.09.09
Hilarious! The u tube by Gloria Gaynor had me rolling! Such a great song and so well applied. Good job, I enjoyed the piece.
14. Take Arnie Too Please | 05.09.09
Im not sure why the leftists have worked themselves up into such a frenzy of fear or hatred of the opinions of others, but that seems to be where things are. I do hope they speed it up another notch and sign up CA Gov Schwarzenegger. He’s a closet Democrat also. The charade is tiresome.
Every conservative Ive met arrived at their beliefs by experiencing the world and observing how humans behave. They aren’t folks who’ve blogged themselves into a frenzy or look to Oprah to form their opinion. I wish Joe the best. I wish Arlen the best. I wish America the best. I am working. I will continue to work. I grow richer. I am happy. I am OK with you hating me for it. At the end of the week though, I am still happy. Are you?
16. W.N. | 05.09.09
“6. d trembley | 05.08.09
a true American would dump his party if that party were hurting America”
If this were the case d trembley than we should expect Obama to dump his party any day now. Talk about hurting America. This clown is killing America.
17. Scott | 05.09.09
Monitor Reader, I’m pretty sure this is a blog post, and therefore it’s a commentary. Stick to the other sections if you’d like something more traditional. I found it quite funny.
18. MsMcPhee | 05.09.09
I am thoroughly enjoying the implosion of the Republican Party. Eric Cantor - backs off on “listening” when Rush says we don’t listen, we shouldl teach. Teach what? Fiscal responsibility? Foreign policy moderation? John Boehner - stiff and stridant. Michael Steele - apologizes to Rush. If the Republicans want to continue to be the party of No, of 30%, of angry white men from the South and Mid-West, keep doing what you’re doing. I’m loving it. Hint: our president is an African-American. Get used to it. He’s confident, calm, coherent, intelligent, listens to more than one position, identifies with average, working Americans, means it when he says we are one people.
20. dj | 05.09.09
I am (actually) ROFL! Whatever happened to the sense of humor, people?!? I cannot believe the few (and I’m so gratified that it’s only a few) hardcore “Republicans” who want to trash the Monitor and the writer for simply having some fun. I guess it demonstrates what really big trouble the party is in when people get this touchy.
The proper reaction to Joe the Plumber doing or saying anything is *yawn*. Who in the heck is (or was) Joe, anyway? It isn’t like he’s a huge political thought model, or even a particularly good representative of The Common People — whoever they are.
Learn to laugh, folks. It’s good for the system….even for Republicans.
21. Sarah G. | 05.09.09
Excellent article!
The best part of the comments comes from ellymo:
“The Republican Party mission of ‘maximum freedom through minimum government’ has been destroyed by right-wing, hate-mongering, wackos.”
I can’t tell how many of my Republican friends express this same sediment. What I just keep wondering; were that asleep for the past 8 W. years?
We’re FINALLY coming out of the dark ages!
(oh, btw, it never stops being funny — bigots that talk trash about gays always have “gay friends”. Wouldn’t you like meet one? Rick Warren, Joe the Plumber — it’s a little too much to believe.)
22. Altadena | 05.10.09
The Youtube of Gloria Gaynor is a nice perfect ending for this article. I love it!!! I got a good laugh. Thanks!
23. Think Again | 05.10.09
Kudos Joe the Plumber.
The Republican party was totally discredited by Bush/Cheney.
Bush was really the bottom of the barrel.
Thank god that for the past three months, somewhere in Texas, a village has got its idiot back.
Bush 1: Tanks the Economy
Clinton: Revives the Economy
Bush 2: Crashes the Economy
Obama (in just 3 months): Has begun reviving the economy and saved America from becoming Zimbabwe.
Are we seeing a pattern here? Do conservatives know anything about creating wealth? (as opposed to just stealing it?)
Bush 2 has been a disaster for progress of America and for its lead in science. He wanted to stop scientific missions and use NASA to send people up for picnics instead…
As the saying goes, the last people who listened to a Bush wandered in the desert for 40 years! Lets hope we can get out of Bush2’s mess a little sooner.
And oh, Obama has done more good for the country in his first hundred days than Bush 2 (lobotomized) and evil genius Cheney did in their 8 years! Bush 2’s major achievements: Wrecking the economy, weakening US strength, slowing progress, allowing China to catch up, dirtying the environment, melting the arctic, shredding the constitution, and packing the court with morons like scalia and scalito.
Oh yeah, Cheney, watch out where you point that shot gun in your retirement!
24. Bill C | 05.10.09
“10. ellymo | 05.08.09
Socially Moderate Republicans are going to leave the party in droves. Those of use who believe in true fiscal conservatism have been betrayed by our Republican Party. The face of today’s Republican Party is filled with religious, far-right, extremist hatred, and that’s not how most real Republicans feel. The Republican Party mission of “maximum freedom through minimum government” has been destroyed by right-wing, hate-mongering, wackos. I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my 50+ years, but the Republican Party has lost me and many like me who are truly ashamed of, and embarrassed by Rush Limbaugh, Joe the Plumber, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Rupert Murdock, and others who think they speak for us.”
This is a very good comment, in my opinion. This represents what many people are thinking these days. I think the Republicans need to detach themselves from the Limbaugh/Hannity/Palin/Murdock opinionated trash talk and start to speak for themselves.
25. Harry AL | 05.10.09
“If this were the case d trembley than we should expect Obama to dump his party any day now. Talk about hurting America. This clown is killing America.”
And what exactly did the Republicans do to us?
8 years under Bush! The world hated America, we went to an uneccesary war, spent trillions of dollars on war, empowered religious fanatics that America almost become the christianized version of saudi arabia…
Bush and his party KILLED a lot of people’s dreams, future and hopes.
Thank God for a new admisnistration. At least our new president is doing something.
I am from Alabama, my family and friends were die hard conservative/republicans.
By the way, last week we all changed our affiliations.
26. Gordon Hill | 05.10.09
The only choice the voters in America have is the republican criminals or the democratic criminals….
Not much of a choice…
We are in trouble…
27. MsMcPhee | 05.10.09
Can anyone who listens to Rush Limbaugh explain in what way he speaks for you? Is it his incitement to anger? His intolerance for opposing views? Or does he truly have “conservative credentials” in your view? Which ones? We need to dial down the anger and foster more respect. From the few times I’ve tuned into him, it’s been a one-way street and often an angry diatribe about issues blown up for maximum commercial ratings, which go up when he’s angry and down when he’s less angry (according to a recent poll I read about). This is not healthy for individuals or the country.
From Wikipedia, “dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. It is also a literary form in which two or more parties engage in a discussion. It is used to make a person feel like they are there listening to the conversation happen in person.”
howell clark - what “this means” depends on how you, the listener and writer/speaker, interpret it, which can change over time, with additional information or inspiration. Blog posting and comments are a great trend for fostering dialogue. Enjoy.
28. Mike D | 05.10.09
Uh, Monitor Reader, this is a blog, not reporting.
Monitor Reader wrote:
>>Not the reporting I’m accustomed to reading from the CSMonitor. Perhaps it
>>could continue doing what it’s good and and produce quality reporting on
>>what matters.
29. M. Owens | 05.10.09
I love how some folks term this article as ‘taking cheap shots at the GOP’. Cheap shots? The party readily and willingly accepted this guy as some form of ‘every man’ during the campaign. They trumpeted him and his support for McCain. Their presidential candidate mentioned his name more than 40 times during the debates and now they call it a ‘cheap shot’ when newspapers report on the guy the GOP created.
The cynicism and hypocrisy of the GOP knows no end. They still don’t understand how they lost over the last 3 years. Frankly, neither do I. Their party had it all and literally, gave it away.
30. dom youngross | 05.10.09
This took my mind completely off suicide and car bombings in Iraq and escalating Predator drone attacks in Afghanipakistan. Obama-Biden will end up killing more civilians and creating more refugees than Bush-Cheney. It’s already happening in South Waziristan and Swat Valley. The anti-war masquerade that derided Bush-Cheney but then voted Obama-Biden was just that, a masquerade.
31. Think some more… | 05.10.09
23. Think Again | 05.10.09
Sorry but your “facts” don’t correspond to reality. By the end of Clinton’s second term, conditions were already laid down for the beginnings of a recession, as market shares rose through unwarranted speculations of the dot-com industry. Unemployment came back down during Bush’s term, especially during 2002, but he was unable or unwilling to set the conditions for long term sustainability. In terms of scientific endeavors, I don’t ever recall Bush reducing NASA budget or scope to the point that we were sending people up for picnics. I think you are confusing us with the Russians. You say Obama has “revived” the economy in the past three months? Where’s the data to back that up? Oh right doesn’t exist. I understand if people don’t like the GOP for certain reasons, but if that reason is also applicable to the Dems, I can’t comprehend that. Final note: Government does not create wealth. Only private individuals and companies does that. Government just knows how to take wealth. And which party loves big Gov’t? The one in charge right now.
As for “shredding the constitution” bit…unacceptable when you are dealing with terrorist but perfectly fine when you use presidential powers to slowly undermine the free market system, individual rights and business law.
32. Simon | 05.10.09
It is indeed *very* important for conservatives to join the ranks of the Democrats. The Democrats are leaning left and this is a great opportunity for like-minded conservatives to tilt the boat in their favor. Conservatives should be encouraged to make their mark in the grass-root activities of the Democratic Party (currently infested by left-wing liberals). Looking at political activism over the past 100 days it is quite evident that most of the liberals are merely chanting the mantras supplied to them by liberal commentators - high in ideology but abysmal in content. The fad will soon wither away and it is important for conservatives to take control.
33. Jack Cocneh | 05.10.09
Judging by the illiteracy and Poor English ( English is still national language in USA despite being home to well over 12,000,000 illegals !)
When Americans begin to understand that being ‘Spiritually Rich’ as opposed to being ‘Financially Rich’, then I maybe will believe they do have some ‘core Christian values’ until then I tell all these ‘Sunday afternoon Christians’ get a bible and read it for a change , especially New Testament and parts on Jesus Christ !
I have lived in USA for 42 years, and have not met a true Christian yet , lots of Wanabe Philistines, but No Real Christians as yet !
Also when you grab that Bible, grab an English dictionary too , it may help to understand the big words !
34. Derek | 05.10.09
The Republican party isn’t done, but it is dying. I have been a Republican since I could vote back in 1990. Recently I made the decision to leave the party.
I’ve always been fairly liberal socially, but reasonably conservative on fiscal issues. I’ve always supported smaller government. But unlike the Republicans, I believe that smaller government has to include smaller police forces, less prisons and less unnecessary laws.
To me, the Republican party is a far right wing party. I don’t want to be in it anymore and I’ve decided to leave. Many people on here will say “glad to see you go.” Well the feeling is mutual. I’m glad not to be in the same political party as you people. I’m just as glad to leave the party as you are to see me go.
I’m sick of being in a political party with a bunch of Jesus freaks who believe that weed smokers are going to destroy the county. I’m out of here. And yes I am glad that we aren’t on the same “side” anymore because believe me, I like the Republicans even less than they like me.
35. Imajicka1 | 05.11.09
Jack Cocneh: Your argument fell apart in the first sentence you wrote! If you are going to slam other people for their illiteracy, then you better damn well have perfect grammar yourself! Your first sentence doesn’t even have a predicate!
Think some more: I’ve noticed that you really had nothing to say about Bush’s scientific endeavors, and I have a theory on that! There weren’t any!! Bush was to science what oil is to water. The last eight years were literally the Dark Ages for us!
36. Jeff9343 | 05.11.09
So Joe’s outraged because of the money the GOP is spending?
Whew…
I sure am glad the Democrats don’t spend any..
37. Lilly | 05.11.09
Hmm. It seems like such a catch 22 that the Republican party is intimately linked to individuals that…ehem… give it a bad name. What an irony that the party that preaches for freedom is also the party most damaged by the actions of a few radicals. Not to say that Liberals don’t have their wackos. Make a belief and one person will always take it too far.
Radicals aside:
The issue is that Mr. ‘the Plumber’ (odd that his name isn’t in an article about him) left for reasons that he felt were valid. And he has the freedom to do so. I side with the man’s decision, on the basis of freedom, but can’t help but wonder if all who deny fixing the problems of the Republican party left, isn’t that just cowardly abandonment?
This is a Liberal saying: don’t give up yet fellas, the ship hasn’t sunk yet!
38. Jennifer | 05.12.09
Honestly, I doubt this is even a political thing. This guy is a media junkie. He played his 2 minutes of fame for everything he could and when the republican party couldn’t give him enough spotlight he bailed for some extra media attention. This guy is a moron, and we’re giving him what he wants, attention.
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. Monitor Reader | 05.08.09
Not the reporting I’m accustomed to reading from the CSMonitor. Perhaps it could continue doing what it’s good and and produce quality reporting on what matters. This is a rant filled with cheap shots at the GOP and Joe the Plumber that give this ‘article’ way too much of a kick-em-while-their-down quality. Juvenile and cynical.